[P2P-F] European Copyright Law: Collusion for the Control of the Net

Wed Apr 6 17:10:53 CEST 2011

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: La Quadrature du Net <jz at laquadrature.net>
Date: Tue, Apr 5, 2011 at 8:55 PM
Subject: [opennetcoalition] La Quadrature du Net - For immediate release
To: opennetcoalition at laquadrature.net

(please forward to your contacts in the European Commission)

La Quadrature du Net - For immediate release

Permanent link:
http://www.laquadrature.net/en/european-copyright-law-collusion-for-the-control-of-the-net

European Copyright Law: Collusion for the Control of the Net

*** Tomorrow, a college meeting of the European Commissioners will take
place to decide the future of European copyright policy. This revision takes
place in conditions that raise severe concerns from a democratic perspective
and put fundamental rights at risk, especially when it comes to the
Internet. ***

The "Internal Market" General Directorate, under the responsibility of
French Commissioner Michel Barnier, just completed a public consultation
process. This consultation took the form of comments on a report purporting
to be an “impact assessment” of the European copyright enforcement policy,
and of the 2004/48/CE “IPRED” directive, also known as the Fourtou directive
[1]. In reality, this document recycles arguments and proposals directly fed
by the entertainment industry: that culture is on the verge of demise due to
on-line piracy, and that the only solution lies in more repressive measures
specifically targeting the Internet.

This obsession with repression is clear when one also considers that the
Commission secretly negotiated the ACTA anti-counterfeiting agreement over a
three-year period with 12 other countries. Disguised as a basic trade
agreement, ACTA actually compels its signatories to create criminal
sanctions for copyright and patent infringements, again with a particular
focus on activities taking place on the Internet.

After the failure of mass-repression against online file-sharers, these same
interest groups are now attempting to put repressive policies at the core of
the network. By turning technical intermediaries (access providers, online
service providers) into a private copyright police, these intermediaries
would then be compelled to censor their networks and services by filtering
their users' communications to prevent potential infringements.

Such a reversal of the legal framework would inevitably cause severe harm to
fundamental freedoms, and in particular the right to privacy and to freedom
of expression. By encouraging the circumvention of judicial authorities in
order to set up direct blocking and filtering of the Internet and its
services, European decision-makers would be laying the ground for a
censorship infrastructure similar to that used for political purposes in
authoritarian regimes.

Such a policy would run decisively contrary to our democratic values and the
rule of law. It can only be explained by the blindness – if not the laziness
– of European policy-makers listening solely to those segments of the
entertainment industry whose economic models are still based on controlling
copies. The Commission continues for instance to relay industry-originated
figures that the U. S. Government Accountability Office has described in a
recent report [2] as mere fantasy.

Any consideration of the fact that file-sharing could be beneficial for
culture, its diversity or its economy, is systematically set aside. A
growing number of independent studies nonetheless show that the largest
file-sharers are also the largest consumers of commercial offerings [3] – in
the same way that lending library users are avid book buyers. Non-market use
and commercial use are not mutually exclusive, but rather complementary. In
much the same way, innovative models for financing creation based on the
legalisation of sharing, such as "Kulturflatrate" or "Creative Contribution"
supported in France by the Création-Public-Internet [4] coalition, are
systematically ignored by European decision-makers.

The toxic influence of the entertainment industry on the European law-making
process is now reaching new extremes with the appointment of Maria
Martin-Prat, previously in charge of legal and institutional matters with
the musical majors lobby IFPI, as head of the copyright unit in the Internal
Market DG of the European Commission.

European citizens and their representatives must adamantly oppose this
unhealthy collusion threatening fundamental freedoms and the Internet's very
infrastructure. It is unforgivable that the Commission has chosen to
encourage the implementation of an Internet control and censorship
infrastructure, rather than initiate the long overdue reform of copyright
laws unadapted to new uses and technology.

Jérémie Zimmermann and Philippe Aigrain, co-founders, La Quadrature du Net

* Références *

1. It was adopted in first reading with Ms. Janelly Fourtou acting as
rapporteur for the European Parliament, while her husband was then CEO of
Vivendi-Universal and presided the International Chamber of Commerce that
engaged in a global lobbying effort today embodied in the BASCAP lobby.

2.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/04/us-government-finally-admits-most-piracy-estimates-are-bogus.ars

3. A non exhaustive list of such studies (governmental, academic, or even
from the French three-strike HADOPI authority!) may be found at the
following address: http://lqdn.fr/p2pstudies

4. http://www.creationpublicinternet

** About la Quadrature du Net **

La Quadrature du Net is an advocacy group that promotes the rights and
freedoms of citizens on the Internet. More specifically, it advocates for
the adaptation of French and European legislations to respect the founding
principles of the Internet, most notably the free circulation of knowledge.

In addition to its advocacy work, the group also aims to foster a better
understanding of legislative processes among citizens. Through specific and
pertinent information and tools, La Quadrature du Net hopes to encourage
citizens' participation in the public debate on rights and freedoms in the
digital age.

La Quadrature du Net is supported by French, European and international NGOs
including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the Open Society Institute and
Privacy International.

List of supporting organisations :
http://www.laquadrature.net/en/they-support-squaring-net-la-quadrature-du-net

** Press contact and press room **

Jérémie Zimmermann, jz at laquadrature.net, +33 (0)615 940 675

http://www.laquadrature.net/en/press-room

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